Cotton lifter for cotton harvesting machine



Sept. 13, 1955 J. D. RUST 2,717,481

COTTON LIFTER FOR COTTON HARVESTING MACHINE Filed June 50, 1952 2Sheets-Sheet l lfi- 1955 J. D. RUST 2,717,481

COTTON'LIFTER FOR COTTON HARVESTING MACHINE Filed June 30, 1952 2Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent COTTON LIFTER FOR COTTON HARVESTINGMACHINE John D. Rust, Pine Bluff, Ark; Thelma F. Rust and J. C. Reeves,coexecutors of the estate of John D. Rust, deceased Application June 30,1952, Serial No. 296,270 Claims. (Cl. 56-28) This invention relates tocotton harvesting machines, and more particularly, to the plant entrancepart for gathering and directing cotton into the harvesting mechanism ofthe machine.

In spindle-type cotton harvesting machines, it is not mechanicallypracticable to have the bottom row of pickwhere the cotton stalks aretall or of medium height, but

fields are encountered where tremely small and the bolls are ground, orwhere cotton has lies loosely on the ground.

From experience, I have found that a lifter having a narrow slot, openat both ends and set at the proper angle, can be made to raise thelowest bolls up to the path of picking spindles. Two problems, however,are encountered in the use of this simple slot arrangement. Where thecrop is heavy near the ground, the plain slot type of lifter will bunchthe lifted cotton so as to overload the lower spindles, the result beinga considerable loss due to cotton being dropped. It is accordingly oneof the objects of this invention to provide for distribution of thelifted cotton bolls over a wide vertical range of spindles.

Furthermore, in order to pick extremely low cotton, it is necessary torun the forward ends of the lifters in contact with the ground. In theevent there are rocks, brickthe plant stalks are exconcentrated close tothe fallen from the plants and bats, chunks, or extremely hard clods inthe field, some of this debris is swept up with the cotton by thelifters and is delivered to the picking tunnel or plant passageway whereit may bend or break the spindles. It may be noted that it hasheretofore been the practice to extend the walls of the plant entrancedown to the level of the lifting rods. Indeed, the lifting rods weremounted on these walls or fenders at their lower edges, and the fenderswere movable vertically. Consequently, if the apparatus were adjusted togather low-flying cotton, debris was also guided back into the plantpassageway. In contrast, it is an object of this invention to providefor gathering of the lowest cotton, yet also exclude ground debris ofspindledamaging size from the plant passageway.

To the attainment of these objectives, briefly, I provide a cottonlifting unit arranged to ride on or next to the ground for gathering anddelivering low-lying cotton up to the picking mechanism. This unitcomprises a pair of forwardly extending, rearwardly inclined liftingrails spaced apart an amount sufiicient to pass the plant stalks whilepreventing cotton from falling between the rails. At the front of theselifting rails, there is prohas been proposed to use limb lifters includes a pair conveyor arranged above the vided a debris trap formed topermit cotton bolls to pass therethrough while catching any debris of asize and character that would damage the spindles of the pickingmechanism. On the outer sides of the debris trap there are providedlimb-lifting fenders with curved front surfaces adjacent the trap forguiding the lower limbs of the debris trap. The lifting unit furtherinof ground feelers movably mounted to project from the front of thelifting rails in forwardlydivergent floating relationship, so as tofollow the contours of the ground. In one form, these feelers arerodlike fingers which reach below low-lying limbs to direct the limbsonto the limb-lifting fenders. In another form, these feelers are groundrakes which sweep onto the lifting rails low-lying'cotton, including anycotton that has fallen to the ground.

The arrangement of the ground feelers and limb-lifting fenders is suchas to cause much of the debris to be discharged over the sides of theunit, especially with use of the finger-type feelers; and any debristending to enter between the limb-lifting walls of the unit, as mayoccur with the rake-type feelers, is caught in the debris trap, if suchdebris is of size large enough to damage the spindles.

The invention further comprises the provision of a lifting rails todirect cotton rearwardly and urge it upwardly for more even distributionover the spindles. This conveyor is shown to be an auger arranged withits axis extending parallel to and above the lifting unit per se.Cooperating with the auger is a vertical side wall arranged so that theupper portions of the plants are held in the auger and carriedrearwardly. Spaced deflectors may be mounted forwardlyof the auger andthe cooperating side wall substantially above ground level.

Other features of the invention will be in part applants over the parentfrom and in part pointed out in the following detail description takenin connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a top plan view with parts broken away of a part of a cottonpicking unit showing the entrance assembly of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the unit shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a transverse Vertical section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal vertical section taken on the line 44 of Fig.1, a moved position of parts being shown by dotted lines; D

Fig. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of the cottonlifting unit forminga part of the invention and showing an alternative form of the groundfeelers; and

Fig. 6 is a vertical section taken generally on the line 66 of Fig. l.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a front part of a picking unitof a cotton picking machine including frame elements 1 and 3, a topcover 5 and a side cover 7. It will be understood, a cotton pickingmachine generally comprises a wheeled vehicle from which one or morepicking units is suspended for cooperation with the cotton plants. Thevehicle is guided along a row of plants in such fashion as to cause theplant to enter an entrance 9 of the plant passageway partially shown at11. As the plants pass through the passageway, cotton is gathered byrotating spindles 13 which move along the passageway with the plants.The details of the passageway and spindle system are not shown as theyare known in the art, but briefly, one type of unit includes a beltformed ried upon upper and lower endless chains. One side of the plantpassageway is formed by vertically superposed horizontal stalk guards 14and the other side is formed by a suitable stalk crowder wall '15. Thechains carrying the slats are trained around front and rear sprockets ofvertically disposed spindle slats caltehedto a sleeve 54'which'tele'sc'opes over the pipe.

3 beneath the top 5) so that the spindles carried by the slats projectbetween the stalk guards into and across the plant passageway. The shaftfor the forward sprockets is shown at 21. Immediately ahead of the stalkcrowder 15, there may be a cotton flufling device 17 which is moreparticularly deseribed in my co-pending United States patent applicationSerial No. 273,584, filed February 27, 1952, now

Patent 2,657,515. This flufling device generally includes flexible flapsor blades 19 which are driven in a 'counterclockwise direction from theforward shaft 21 within a housing 20. A large sprocket 22 on the shaft21 drives a smaller sprocket 23 on a second shaft 24 by meaiis of achain 25, which is also trained about an idler 26. The fiuffer is beltdriven from the shaft 2 4 by a large pulley 27, there being a smallerpulley 28 on the flutter and a belt idler 30.

The assembly also includes guide means located ahead bf the 'fliitfin'gdevice for gathering and directing cottonb'ea i'ing portions of theplants into theplant passageway, and it is in this entrance assemblythat the invention armers from prior cotton-picking machines. Theentrance assembly may be formed as an integral part of a completecotton-pickingmachine or c0tton-picking unit,

'drfit may be provided as an attachment for such machines "to beemployed when the conditions of the field are such that conventionalguides are comparatively ineffective.

A transverse angle rail 29 extends across the frame elements 1 and 3 atthe front of the picking unit and is "secured by a bracket 31. The rail29 forms a part of a'fr amewo'rk, which includes lateral supporting bars33 and 35 extending forwardly on opposite sides of the assembly. Ashield member 37 is mounted ahead of the spindles 13, and the bar 33projects forwardly from a "plate 36 attached to this shield 37. Theother side of the assembly is supported from the frame on front and rearhinges 38 and 40. A vertically disposed angle member 39 extends downwardfrom the end of the angle member 29 adjacent the hinge 38 and carries abracket 41'at its lower end. The lateral supporting bar 35 extendsforwardly and rearwardly through this bracket 41 and is secured at'itsrear end to a generally vertical member 43 (see Fig. 6), which member 43may be fastened to seminar housing 29. An upper longitudinal brace 45"extends over the fluffer between the hinges 38 and 40,

I and the flutieris supported at its top from this brace 45.

The bars '33 and 35 are cantilevered forwardly to siipp'ort a pair ofdeflectors 47 and '49, respectively, on

transverse braces 44 and 46, respectively. These de- "fleetbrsarevertically disposed V-shaped guides of sheet 'int'al supported so thattheir lower edges are alsubstantial. distance above ground level. Thedeflectors are *cov'ered at their tops by means of plates 51 and'52 andare-renam d by a transverse pipe 53. The plate 51 is fasteneddirectly tothis pipe whereas the plate 52 is fas- As shown, the deflectors arespaced to define the entrance "to arelatively wide passage for the upperportions of nt's, andto'p guide rods are secured to the pipe 53 Ito xtend r'earwardly toward the frame element 1. These "guidefiodsbooperatewith aset of additional guide rods fastened to the frame element L'whichrods 57 con- 'tinu'erearwardly toward the plant passageway 11. The

" guiderods 55 and 57 are spaced, relative to thesizeof eottonbollsfloforce the tops of plants downwardly with- "in the plant passageway.

Asshown in Fig. 3, the plant passage defined 'by the forward deflectorsand upper guide rods is also bounded by guiding side walls 59 and 61,inthe form ofsheetmetal partitions'whiehextend r'earwaidly from the inneredges of the deflectors 47 and '49,'respectively. These fpartititins -59fand 61 terminate, respectively, 'at the -spiiidleshield37'and'the'cotton flutter housing 20. The flow pal-totthepass'ageisdefined'on one'side by the "Bot'toinfiet the sidewall '59,which edge is spaced well to the frame element 3 (Fig. 6).

The anger is arranged lengthwise with its sleeve 67 journaled on a rod68, which rod has its ends fixed in the transverse brace 46 and in theframe member 43. The flights or blades 69 of the conveyor projectsubstantially across the plant passage to engage the plants and movethem through the passage. As best shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the conveyoris covered on its outer side by curved shields. A sheet-metal cover 71at the rear is curved from a bottom edge 73 below the auger around theouter part of the blade as at 74 and extended at 75 up to the top of theassembly. The cover 71 extends forwardly to the vertical frame member39. A second sheet-metal cover 77 is located between the frame member 39and the deflector 49, this cover having its lower edge 78 spaced abovethe edge 73 of the rear cover.

The screw conveyor 65 is driven from a pulley 85 on the shaft 24 of thepicking unit. At its rear end, the conveyor has a sheave formed with arounded groove 79 (Fig. 4) around which is trained a-belt 80, the groove79 being relatively larger than the belt 80 in order to permit sliptherebetween in the event the auger becomes jammed. The belt is carriedover a pair of sheaves 81 and 83 at the top of the assembly and drivenfrom a sheave 85 secured over the flufler drive sheave 27 on the shaft24. The arrangement is such that the auger is driven in acounterclockwise direction as viewed from the front, and the blades arearranged to convey material rearwardly and upwardly. Theparticularmounting of sheaves 81 and 83 is not important, but a belt tighteningaction is preferably provided. For example, the sheave 81 may be mountedupon a lever 87 pivoted to the frame member 43 and spring biasedoutwardly by a spring 89. The other sheave 83 may be mounted upon asupport 91 fixed A belt guard 92 may be located ahead of the belt toprotect it from the plants.

The assembly also includes a cotton-lifting unit 101 supported from theframework below the plant passage described above. (Fig. 5 differs fromFigs. 24 only in the form of certain ground feelers to be described.)

This unit comprises a pair of rearwardly inclined lifting 'fails 'orguide members 103 spaced apart to define a narrow, open-ended slot 105forming the lower part of the entrance to the assembly. The slot 105 isshown in Fig. '3'to be located 'under the auger, and the slot is of awidth sufficient to retain cotton upon the lifting rails whilepermitting the rails to pass by the stalks of the plants. This spacingmay be of the order of one inch.

Mounted alongside these rails 103 are limb-lifting fenders 109, whichhave rearwardly-divergent front edges 111. These fenders'are curved backas indicated at'113 t'o "afloor surface 11501: the generally triangularoutline so as to provide r'earwardl'y convergent side edges 117. Theupperfp'ortiGns of the'fenders are then connected *with the liftingrails 103 bymeans of vertical guiding walls 119. The forward edges 120of these walls 119 a're also cu'rved 'u 'andback'to lift'a'nd guidethe'limbs ovendebri tra located 'there'between. "Debris-trapping blocks121 arem'ounted'up'on the'walls and have vertical front edges orsurfaces spaced apart to permit "the passage of cotton therebetween,while selec tively blocking and trapping debris "of -a'size andcharacter as 'might damage the spindles. Bottom members 107 of theliftingnnit'areattached to'the frame of the pickinguriit on one side'and't'o the vertical hinged member 39 on the other side. Y

It will be noted, the arrangement is'such that the front part-of thelifting unit 101 cantilevers forwardly below the auger -a'nd side 'wall59 and is spaced therebelow' in order totpermit limbs of-thepla'ntsto-be'guided'over the fenders -109. The curvedrear outer cover 71fol-the auger has' its -lower 'edge 73 substantially' i-n-"contacfiwiththe floor on one sideof the unit. :F il-leflforming members 127- a nd128 at the outer corners tf"-the u'nit provide for a smooth transfer ofthe limbs around the supporting framework.

Referring to Fig. 4, the lifting rails 103 also function as supports fora pair of floating ground feelers 123 arranged at the front end of theslot 105 in forwardlydivergent relationship. The front ends 125 ofthe'rails are canted outwardly and the feelers 123 are pivotallymounted, as by rods 126, in order to permit the feelers to ride upon andfollow the contours of the ground. Normally, the ground feelers would beangled downwardlyand forwardly upon opposite sides of the dirt moundalong a row of plants, but they may swing upwardly, as indicated by thedotted lines of Fig. 4, to follow variations in ground contour.

The ground feelers are shown in Figs. 24 to be rodlike fingers 123 withtheir front ends 129 bent back to ride upon the ground and reach underlow-lying limbs. The limbs are then directed onto the lifting unit andground debris may ride over the rods 123. An alternative embodiment ofthe feelers is shown in Fig. 5.

The apparatus of Fig. 5 is identical to that previously described,except as to the shape of the ground feelers; and Fig. 5 shows howground feelers of either type may be pivotally mounted by means of rods126. In this second form, the feelers are rake-like members 123 withupper and lower margins 131 and 133 connected by spaced bars 135, andwith the front ends 137 somewhat pointed to slip under the limbs. Theopen construction serves to permit loose dirt to pass through the rakeswithout being scooped into the slot 105, but does function to sweep upcotton on the ground and guide it into the channel formed by thevertical walls 119 and the rails 103. It will be understood that withsome types of plants, the cotton is concentrated near the ground onshort limbs, or some of the cotton may be lying loosely on the ground,hence the rakes of Fig. 5 are adapted to sweep this cotton onto therails 103 for lifting thereby and also by the auger 65.

In operation, the front ends of the rails 103 of the cotton-lifting unit101 ride on or next to the ground along a row of cotton plants. Theground feelers 123 project outwardly and may project downwardly if therow is of mound shape. The deflectors 47 and 49 are carriedsubstantially above the ground forwardly of the unit 101. It will beunderstood the picking unit may be mounted in any suitable manner, such,for example, as shown Rust Patent No. 1,894,198, issued January 10,1933.

As the machine travels along a row of cotton plants, the upper portionsof the plants are directed inwardly by the deflectors 47 and 49 and arecarried rearwardly with respect to the machine With the aid of the auger65. 5'

At the same time, the ground feelers 123 reach below limbs lying closeto the ground and direct them onto the lifting fenders 109. As the limbspass thereover, they are flipped or lofted upright, such beingfacilitated by the auger, the blades of which rotate upwardly in theplant passage. The auger is driven with the rearward speed of conveyancerelative to the machine being slightly greater than the forward speed ofthe machine relative to the ground.

The rod-like shape of the ground feelers shown in Figs. 2-4 is adaptedto permit ground debris such as bricks to pass thereover and be directedoutwardly by the fenders 109. In the event, however, that a large rockis swept up, as may occur, especially with use of the rake-type ofground feelers of Fig. 5, the rock will lodge in the trap 121 at theentrance to the narrow slot 105. The spacing of the debris-trappingblocks 121 is suificient to pass the cotton yet operates as a separatorto trap rocks of such size as may damage the spindles. Debris of smallersize may pass between the members 121 but the spindles are not therebydamaged. When a rock lodges in the trap, it will become quickly apparentto the operator who may be riding immediately above the entrance so thatthe machine may be stopped and the rock removed.

In-view of the above, it will be seen the lifter of this inventionfunctions to gather all of the cotton in a row, including unattachedbolls or bolls attached to short lowlying limbs, and to direct suchcotton into the picking mechanism, which is necessarily elevated aboveground level. Moreover, the low-lying cotton' is not merelyconcentrated. at the lower part of the picking mechanism but is morewidely distributed in an upward direction by the action of thecotton-lifting unit and the screw'conveyor. This conveyor has a diameterof aboutnine inches and has a double spiral. The width of the upperplant passage (between 59 and 61) is of the order of three inches. Anadditional function of the conveyor is to hold the plants at their topparts as they enter the slot 105 so that they will be properly guidedinto the lifting unit, and not be pushed over and run down.

From the foregoing description, it is apparent that those skilled in theart will understand the structure, function and mode of operation of theinvention herein disclosed, and appreciate the advantages thereof.Although several embodiments have been disclosed in detail, it is to beunderstood that the invention is not limited thereto, but the drawingsand description thereof are to be understood as being merelyillustrative. It is realized that many modifications and variations willpresent themselves to those skilled in the art without departing fromthe spirit of this invention or the scope thereof as set forth in theappended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired to besecured by Letters Patent is:

l. A cotton-lifting unit for attachment to a cottonpicking unit of thetype having an open-front plant passageway; the lifting unit comprisinga pair of supports adapted to be mounted on opposite sides of said plantpassageway, 21 pair of elongate lifting members mounted one on eachsupport with portions thereof projecting forwardly of their supports,said lifting members being spaced to define a narrow slot of uniformwidth and being disposed to extend from the plant passageway inforwardly-declining relationship so that the forward ends thereof rideclosely adjacent the ground, and a pair of ground'fe'elers mounted oneon each lifting member at the forward ends thereof, said ground feelersbeing disposed to ride upon the ground in forwardly-divergentrelationship and being pivotally mounted for vertical swinging movement,thereby to follow the contours of the ground.

2. A cotton-lifting unit as set forth in claim 1, wherein said groundfeelers are thin rod-like members adapted to sweep beneath loose debriswhile crowding the plant Istalks inwardly between said closely-spacedlifting memers.

3. A cotton-lifting unit as set forth in claim 1, where in said groundfeelers are formed as rakes of substantial height, thereby to gather andsweep loose-lying cotton inwardly to the forward portions of saidlifting members.

4. A cotton-lifting unit for attachment to a cottonpicking unit of thetype having a plurality of picking spindles defining an open-front plantpassageway; the lifting unit comprising a pair of supports adapted to bemounted on opposite sides of said plant passageway, a pair of elongatelifting rails mounted one on each support to project forwardly anddownwardly from the bot tom of the plant passageway as defined by thebottom row of picking spindles, said lifting rails being uniformly whichthe relatlvely wide balls of cotton may ride upwardly to the plantpassageway, a pair of ground-raking members mounted one on each liftingrail at the forward ends thereof, said ground rakes being of substantialheight and disposed in forwardly divergent relationship, thereby togather and sweep loose-lying cotton inwardly to the forward portions ofsaid lifting rails, and a pair of debristrapping members mounted one oneach. support over said lifting rails, said debris-trapping membershaving front edges spaced apart an amount sufiicient to pass soft ballsof cotton while blocking passage of relatively hard References Cited inthe file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS White Sept. 19, TannerOet. 31, Appleby July 28, Rust et al, Jan. 10, Johnston Sept. 12, CourtJuly 24, Hagen Sept. 5, Grether June 16,

Rust Sept. 22,

